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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

wreathe.

Senses relating to intertwining or twisting.

7 characters1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ɹiːð/Received-Pronunciation/ɹið/General-American/ɹiːv/
  1. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. To coil, curl, or twist (something); to shape (something) into circles or coils.

    also · figuratively · transitive
  2. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. To adorn (someone or something) with a garland or wreath.

    also · figuratively · transitive
  3. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Of flowers, leaves, etc.: to form the shape of a wreath around (something).

    also · figuratively · transitive
  4. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Often followed by in and the thing encircling: to coil or spiral around, or encircle, (someone or something); (by extension) to cover or envelop (someone or something).

    also · figuratively · transitive
    wreathed in mystery
    At the funeral, a circle of comrades wreathed the grave of the honoured deceased.
  5. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Followed by about, around, or round: to coil, twist, or wind (oneself or something) around a person or thing; (by extension) to cause (oneself or something) to cover or encircle a person or thing.

    also · figuratively · reflexive · transitive
  6. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Often followed by together: to entwine or twist (two or more people or things) together; to intertwine, to interweave.

    also · figuratively · transitive
  7. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. To form (a crown, garland, wreath, etc.) by entwining or twisting flowers, leaves, etc., together; also, to entwine or twist (flowers, leaves, etc.) together to form a crown, garland, wreath, etc.

    also · archaic · figuratively · transitive
  8. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. To strengthen (an earthen embankment) with hurdles of wattle.

    also · figuratively · transitive
  9. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. To form (something) by entwining or twisting two or more things together; also, to entwine or twist (something) with another thing.

    also · figuratively · obsolete · transitive
  10. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Followed by on: to place (a yoke, symbolizing a burden) on someone's neck.

    Scotland · also · figuratively · obsolete · transitive
  11. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Followed by about, around, or round: to coil, twist, or wind around a person or thing.

    also · figuratively · intransitive
  12. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Of mist, smoke, etc.: to move with a coiling, spiralling, or twisting motion.

    also · figuratively · intransitive
  13. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Followed by with: to become intertwined with something.

    also · figuratively · intransitive · obsolete · rare
  14. Senses relating to intertwining or twisting. Of snow: to form drifts.

    Scotland · also · figuratively · intransitive · obsolete
  15. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To arrange (one's expression, face, etc.) into a smile; also (reflexive), of the lips, mouth, etc.: to arrange (itself or themselves) into a smile.

    transitive
  16. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To bend or turn (oneself), often continuously; to twist and turn, to writhe.

    reflexive · transitive
  17. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To artfully introduce (oneself) into a situation, a person's thoughts, etc.; to insinuate.

    archaic · figuratively · reflexive · transitive
  18. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To cause (the body, limbs, etc.) to twist violently; to contort, to writhe.

    obsolete · transitive
  19. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To rip or tear (something); to rend.

    obsolete · transitive
  20. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To turn (something) violently around or aside; to wrench, to wring.

    obsolete · transitive
  21. Senses relating to vigorous movement. Followed by from: to take (something) by force; to wrest.

    obsolete · transitive
  22. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To make (a bow) by bending forward.

    obsolete · rare · transitive
  23. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To give (spoken or written words) a false or strained meaning; to twist.

    figuratively · obsolete · transitive
  24. Senses relating to vigorous movement. To bend or turn, often continuously; to twist and turn, to writhe.

    intransitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English wrethen (“to twist”), partly: * from wrethen (“twisted, wreathed”) (whence modern English wreathen (“(obsolete) made into a wreath; twisted”, adjective)), the past participle of writhen, wrythen (“to twist into a braid, coil, or wreath; to twist out of position or shape, deform; to twist together, intertwine; to twist about, writhe; to bend; to swathe, wrap; etc.”), from Old English wrīþan (“to twist; to bind; to wrap”), from Proto-West Germanic *wrīþan (“to twist; to weave”), from Proto-Germanic *wrīþaną (“to twist; to weave”), from Proto-Indo-European *wreyt- (“to twist”); and * from wreth, wrethe (“coiled or rounded shape; decorative garland, wreath; chaplet, crown; ring”, noun), from Old English *wreoþa, wriþa (“band, coil, ring”), from Proto-West Germanic *wriþō, from Proto-Germanic *wriþô, from *wrīþaną (see further above).

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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.